Have you ever downloaded a habit tracker, set an alarm for a new morning routine, or told yourself “this time it’s going to stick,” only to find yourself back where you started two weeks later? Lisa knows the feeling—and she knows you’re not alone. Habits are one of the most talked-about topics in productivity and self-improvement, and also one of the most frustrating to actually live out. That’s exactly why Lisa keeps coming back to this topic on the podcast.
In this episode, Lisa isn’t introducing new material—she’s connecting the dots. She rounds up seven of the show’s top habit-related episodes, giving you a flavor of each one so you can decide which to revisit in full. It’s a look at how the conversation around habits has grown on the podcast, from the foundational framework in episode 15 all the way through the personality-based approach in episode 268.
Lisa walks through where it all began in episode 15, leaning on Charles Duhigg and James Clear to explain what habits are and how the brain uses “chunking” to make decisions easier. From there, she revisits her strategy call with Katie Henson in episode 164, applying habit theory to a real morning routine and real life clutter. She covers episode 210’s exploration of gratitude as a protective, habit-forming practice, and episode 225’s four tips for rebuilding a habit after life disrupts it. She then connects episode 227’s approach to habit stacking and keystone habits, episode 249’s five energizing habits for sustainable productivity, and closes with episode 268’s personality-based approach using the Big Five (OCEAN) traits. Throughout, Lisa ties it all back to self-awareness—the same foundation she introduced all the way back in episode 1.
Habits, Lisa reminds us, aren’t about willpower or discipline alone. They’re about understanding how your brain works, designing your environment and expectations to support you, and building routines that flex with your actual life instead of demanding a version of you that doesn’t exist on your hardest days.
7 Habit Episodes to Help You Make Change That Lasts [Round Up]
Have you ever downloaded a habit tracker, set an alarm for a new morning routine, and told yourself “this time it’s going to stick”—only to find yourself right back where you started two weeks later?
If so, you’re not alone. Not by a long shot.
Habits are one of the most talked-about topics in productivity and self-improvement, and also one of the most frustrating to actually live out. That gap between knowing consistency matters and actually being consistent can feel impossibly wide.
This week, Lisa is trying to shrink that gap.
Habits have come up again and again on the podcast, and for good reason—it’s one of the most requested topics, and one Lisa never gets tired of exploring, because the conversation keeps evolving. What she understood about habits five years ago isn’t what she understands now. She’s different now, too. And all of that shapes the habits that actually stick.
Rather than adding something new to the pile, this episode rounds up seven of the show’s most foundational and most-listened-to habit episodes, so you can see how the conversation has grown—and decide which ones are worth a full listen or a revisit.
And running through all seven is the same underlying truth:
Habits aren’t about willpower or discipline. They’re about understanding how your brain works, designing your life to support you, and building routines flexible enough to survive your hardest days.
Start With the Framework
Back in episode 15, Lisa laid the groundwork for everything that came after. Leaning on Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit, Smarter Faster Better) and James Clear (Atomic Habits), she explained what habits actually are and how the brain uses something called “chunking” to make decisions easier. That episode also introduced a simple framework for building new habits and breaking old ones—still the best starting point if you’re new to the topic.
Apply It to Real Life
A few years later, in episode 164, Lisa sat down with Katie Henson, a multi-passionate creative chasing a better morning routine while running into “life clutter” at every turn. (Clutter, as Peter Walsh puts it, isn’t just the stuff on the floor—it’s everything standing between you and the life you want.) Together, they assessed Katie’s personality and tendencies, used environment to make good habits easier than bad ones, and applied timers to set gentle boundaries around overwhelming tasks. They also unpacked the sunk cost fallacy—the trap of holding onto routines simply because you’ve already invested time in them.
Make Gratitude Do the Work
In episode 210, Lisa revisited one of the simplest and most powerful habits there is: gratitude. After becoming certified in Mental Health First Aid, she learned that gratitude is considered a genuine protective factor for well-being—not just a nice sentiment. This episode reframes gratitude through the lens of habit reversal training, a technique for interrupting an unhelpful thought loop and replacing it with something that actually serves you. Of every habit on this list, it might be the easiest one to try first.
Rebuild What Life Knocked Loose
Supportive habits don’t usually disappear because you’re lazy or undisciplined—they disappear because life happens. That’s the heart of episode 225. Lisa introduces the concept of friction, the resistance that builds up and makes returning to a habit harder than it should be, and offers four tips for rebuilding routines that fit who you are right now, not who you were before everything got disrupted.
Link Habits Together
Once a habit is rebuilt, the natural next step is making it work with other habits—which is exactly what episode 227 covers. Lisa breaks down where the term “habit stacking” comes from and shares a simple approach called anchoring: linking a new habit to one you already do automatically. She also introduces keystone habits, the ones with a ripple effect strong enough to pull other good choices along with them.
Protect Your Energy First
In episode 249, Lisa offers five habits that could each be argued as keystone habits in their own right: rest, nourishment, a creative outlet, movement, and built-in rewards that actually refill your tank instead of draining it further. If you’ve ever pushed through exhaustion just to check a box, this episode gives you permission to take care of yourself first—and let everything else follow.
Design for Your Own Personality
Most recently, in episode 268, Lisa tackled the one-size-fits-all myth head-on using the Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN). Instead of borrowing a system that works for someone else, this episode helps you figure out which habits will actually align with who you are.
The Thread Running Through All Seven
Looking at these seven episodes together, one thing becomes clear: self-awareness is the real foundation underneath all of it. Lisa first introduced this idea back in episode 1, on self-awareness as your number one productivity tool—and you can see it show up again and again, from the strategy call with Katie Henson to the personality-based approach in episode 268. Understanding your own motivation and how your personality shapes what’s sustainable for you is what makes any habit framework actually usable.
Final Thoughts
Habits aren’t elusive because you’re doing something wrong. They’re elusive because life shifts, and most habit advice doesn’t shift with it.
These seven episodes each offer a different angle—but they all point back to the same idea: the best habits aren’t the ones that demand a version of you that doesn’t exist on your hardest days. They’re the ones built to flex with the life you’re actually living.
Curious which one to start with? Rebuild a lost habit, understand your personality, or protect your energy first—there’s no wrong entry point.
If you’re ready to binge the full collection, the habits playlist is waiting for you at positivelyproductive.com/podcast, with these seven and more.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
Learn more about Positively LivingⓇ and Lisa at https://positivelyproductive.com/podcast/
Stop trying to fit into someone else’s productivity rules! Grab my free Productivity Toolkit, a collection of workbooks designed to help you explore how you work, uncover what truly matters to you, and create your very own energy-friendly systems. Get it here: www.positivelyproductive.com/plpkit
CONNECT WITH LISA ZAWROTNY:
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Episode 15: How to Harness the Power of Habits
Episode 164: Decluttering and Habit Management for Multi-Passionate Creatives with Katie Henson
Episode 210: Gratitude: One of the Simplest Habits to Improve Mental Wellbeing
Episode 225: How to Rebuild a Lost Habit or Create a Better One
Episode 227: Combining and Stacking Habits for Better Results
Episode 249: Five Energizing Habits to Make You More Productive
Episode 268: Build Strong Habits Based On Your Personality
Episode 1: The #1 Tool to Achieve Productivity
Habits Playlist
Positively Productive Resources Library
(Find links to books/gear on the Positively Productive Resources Page.)
Dance Song Playlist V1, V2, V3
Music by Ian and Jeff Zawrotny
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